Living an Art-ful Life

December Daily Project-An Exercise in Gratitude

Two years ago I began documenting and photographing our Decembers because they are such a special time in our home. I wanted the traditions and the miracle of Christmas to somehow have a place where we could visit it throughout the year and be a reminder in years to come when we no longer live under the same roof. The first two years I loosely followed Ali Edwards and her December Daily project and she inspired me to tell our stories. I was drawn to her intentionality as she moved through the days of the season–even creating a “Reason Why” introduction. Live intentionally. I love this. I try to live this way regularly, but I hadn’t incorporated it into my scrapbooking or memory keeping.

and this one is an on-going album that we add to every year full of our random acts of kindness:

Here are some snapshot peeks at the inside:

This year, I am jumping in with Ali and the December Daily project with both feet. Because I am enjoying so many other projects and my little man requires so much of my attention, I decided to buy her kit this year and focus my time on telling our stories instead of spending so much time designing my pages and creating my own format. In the end, my children (and theirs) will cherish these frozen moments and the miracle of Christmas that we celebrate. I am so grateful to Ali Edwards for creating this beautiful way of intentionally savoring the Christmas season.

I met Ali Edwards about 13 years ago at a scrapbooking convention (CKU) in Dallas. I liked her immediately. She is warm and real and generous with her talent. These are all things I greatly admire. I have watched her build a successful business and a crafting community that is as warm and generous as she is–and that is a beautiful thing.

This week before December I am beginning to set up my album with pages for things I know we will be documenting: Buying the Tree, Decorating the Tree, Baking Cookies, Random Acts of Kindness, Wrapping Presents, Holiday Cooking, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Holiday Play List for 2016, Driving Around to See Lights, Christmas Movie List…you get the idea. These pages will be moved around and adjusted as the month progresses, so nothing is set in stone. This is just a jumping off point–and a great way to play with all the amazing stuff in the kits!

I will post more in December as I begin my actual documenting process to hopefully inspire you to record your own Christmas memories! You can follow my blog and be notified when I create new posts. I’d love to have you follow along.